“Aravot” disagrees with Armenian pro-government politicians’ claims that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s calls in Baku for a resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict by “only political means” was a serious blow to Azerbaijan. The paper argues that Putin, as the head of one of the three countries co-heading the OSCE Minsk Group, could not have made a case for a military solution.

Lragir.am claims that Russia’s aggressive push for the creation of a Eurasian Union is only alienating former Soviet republics and even undermining their Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). In particular, the online paper says, Moscow’s latest “punitive actions” against imports from Ukraine are only strengthening Kiev’s resolve to “end dependence on Russia as soon as possible.” It also claims that recent Russian arms sales to Azerbaijan “finally broke Armenians’ faith in a strategic union with Russia.” “Other methods are being used for alienating Central Asian states,” it says. “In particular, Russia’s latest migration initiatives and humiliating detention centers for Central Asian migrant workers caused discontent even in countries loyal to Russia.”

“Hraparak” complains that the Armenian political scene is now “deserted” and blames “extremely passive parties” for that. The paper compares them to weed. “We will have to eventually uproot that weed and sow healthy and useful seeds in their place. It is incumbent on healthy forces of the society and political parties that want to change something and ensure progress and development in the country to do that. You may wonder whether those healthy forces are. Why has our political scene become so deserted?”

“As a rule, our parties wake up once in every five years, on the eve of elections and try to dupe voters into thinking that their supreme objective is to improve their lives. In reality, their supreme objective is to clinch votes,” concludes “Hraparak.”

“Zhoghovurd” says that unlike Turkey Armenia is not seriously preparing for the 100th anniversary of the 1915 Armenian genocide in the Ottoman Empire. “Naturally, in terms of resources we cannot compete with Turkey,” writes the paper. “But putting aside the question of money, this is an issue on which we hold important trump cards. With one and a half year to go before the 100th anniversary of the genocide, it is already clear that we are not using any of them in full. The Republic of Armenia is primarily to blame for this.”